Attacks on journalists persist amid protests in Ukraine

New York, February 5, 2014--At least two international journalists
reported being abducted and beaten while covering protests in Ukraine on
Friday, according to news reports. The attack comes as two local press freedom
groups each reported that more than 100 journalists have been attacked or
briefly detained since the nationwide protests began in late November.

Nikita
Perfilyev, a Russian journalist reporting for the news website Kazanfirst in Russia's
central Republic of Tatarstan, told CPJ that he and Anton Zakharov, a Russian
freelance cameraman, had been abducted in Kiev after returning from covering a
protest. Three unidentified assailants forced Perfilyev and Zakharov
into an unmarked black SUV and took them to an unidentified location where they
were beaten and threatened.
They were released after a few hours.

Perfilyev
told CPJ the assailants broke his front teeth, and told them to stop covering
the opposition protests and leave Ukraine immediately. He said the attackers
stole their documents and cash. The journalists told the press they had decided
to stay in Ukraine and continue to report. They sought medical help immediately
after the attack but did not have to be hospitalized.

The attack comes within the same week that two
Kiev-based press freedom groups--Institute of Mass Information (IMI) and the
National Union of Journalists--released
reports on attacks against journalists covering the protests. The journalists'
union reported that more than 100 journalists had been subjected to physical
attacks, detentions, and destruction of their property, while IMI put the number at a minimum of 136. IMI also said
that in most cases journalists named a Ukrainian riot police unit known as
Berkut as the source of the attacks.

"The abduction and beating of Nikita Perfilyev and Anton Zakharov
is a brutal act of intimidation that must not go unpunished," CPJ Europe and
Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said. "We call on the
authorities to respect the rights of journalists to safely cover the dramatic
events unfolding in Ukraine and to hold those responsible for anti-press
attacks to account."

IMI's report said that at least 54 journalists were
directly assaulted by law enforcement agents and that 63 journalists had reported
various injuries from rubber bullets, stun grenades, or tear gas. At least 11
journalists were detained, 31 had their reporting equipment damaged, and 21 were
assaulted by a group of pro-government provocateurs, the report said.

IMI has consistently updated its report as new
events unfold. At least 51 journalists were assaulted while covering the first wave of the
protests in early December, and a month later, at least 42 others were attacked--in most cases by stun grenades or
rubber bullets--while covering the second wave of demonstrations against
government policies.

Protesters
occupied the central Maydan square in Kiev in late November after President Viktor Yanukovych reversed his pledge to sign an
association agreement with the European Union, and decided instead to build
stronger ties with Russia. In mid-January, Yanukovych's decision to sign a set
of restrictive laws--banning protests and re-introducing criminal punishment for
libel, among other measures--resulted in escalating violence across the country.
Amid the backlash, Ukrainian authorities repealed the legislation on Friday.

"It is hard to see how this difficult period will be
resolved if journalists are not able to freely report on all aspects of the
dispute," CPJ's Ognianova said.

Facing
domestic and international outcry over the first wave of assaults in December, Ukrainian
authorities publicly announced they had opened
a criminal investigation and promised to bring those responsible to justice.

However,
according to the independent Kiev-based news website Ukrainska Pravda, local prosecutors are
yet to start an investigation into the December 1 beatings. Citing a January 23 reply
by the General Prosecutor's office to the parliamentary inquest regarding the status
of the probe, Ukrainska Pravda also
said that prosecutors had agreed to investigate only 26 cases.